He said the Education Ministry would help fund the additional teacher once its roll hits 51 – something it expected in the coming weeks.

The new teacher, Jane Tiley, had come to the school after teaching secondary school physical education at St Matthew’s Collegiate.

Tiley said the change to primary classroom teaching was a new challenge. She was excited to be part of a “future-focused” school.

“It’s always important to grow and have goals, and the school has certainly got that,” she said.

Kerr said it had been about nine years since the school last had three classrooms, and he was happy it was fortunate enough to now have four teaching staff, including the principal, and one teacher aide.